Mediterranean chain restaurants are the new Five Guys.
First came Mamoun’s Falafel, a Greenwich Village-based chain, on Witherspoon Street in Princeton, followed over the next few years by Texas-based Zoe’s Kitchen in Lawrence and D.C.-based The Simple Greek, in Hamilton.
It is safe to say that the pace of growth in the sector is increasing. Last year, The Halal Guys (Manhattan) joined Zoe’s in Mercer Mall.
Already this year, two more Mediterranean chains are poised to enter the fray: Taïm Mediterranean Grill, in Princeton Shopping Center, and Mezeh Grill, in Hamilton Town Center. Taïm, like Mamoun’s and The Halal Guys, is based in New York, while Mezeh started out as a mall food court spot in Maryland before quickly setting out to expand throughout the Mid-Atlantic region.
One factor in the proliferation of Mediterranean franchises is its apparent adaptability of the cuisine to the Chipotle-style fast-casual restaurant model. All of the restaurants mentioned, with the exception of Mamoun’s, take the fast-casual approach.
The definition of Mediterranean cuisine can be a little hazy — not that long ago, many Italian restaurants took to calling themselves Mediterranean because of the oft-touted benefits of the Mediterranean diet — but most of the restaurants feature a range of dishes generally associated with Greek, Turkish, and Middle Eastern cuisine.
Taïm, like The Simple Greek, will offer a variety of featured flavors in either a pita or a bowl, plus your choice of condiments. Taïm bowl options include hummus, rice, couscous, lettuce or a combination of two, topped with one of roasted meatballs, roasted chicken, cauliflower “shawarma,” beets and carrots, eggplant sabich, falafel or Impossible kabobs.
Toppings include pickles, olives, chickpeas, almonds, avacado, baba ghanoush, feta, egg and fries, plus a variety of sauces including harissa and tzatziki. Dishes are served with Israeli salad, pickled cabbage and tahini.
Mezeh Grill takes the same approach, offering meals, offering a base of a pita, flatbread wrap or bowl with greens or rice, topped with a protein of chicken or steak shawarma, chicken kabob, shredded lamb, lamb or veggie kefta, or falafel.
Mezeh’s condiment list is longer than Taïm’s, and includes hummus, tabbouleh, roasted corn, feta, carrots, eggplant, baba ghanoush, pickled vegetables and chickpeas. Sauces include tzatziki, harissa, tahini and white beans.
The restaurants are both “opening soon,” with Taïm looking to open possibly by the beginning of June and Mezeh sometime after that. But if you are hungry for some shawarma now, you don’t have to wait until then. Gyro King and Grill, a strictly local chain, is open now on Route 130 in East Windsor.
Gyro King, which opened in March and which also has a location in Kendall Park, offers Pakistani specialties including shawarma, kabobs, bihari, chicken tikka, and of course, gyros. Most dishes are served either in a wrap, a pita or over rice.
The restaurant serves everything to go, whether you eat in or out, and is almost inconspicuous in the strip mall next to ShopRite, but this writer stumbled in one day and has been back twice since. The lamb dishes really hit the spot.
Taïm Mediterranean Grill, 301 N. Harrison St., Princeton. Web: taimfalafel.com.
Mezeh Grill, Hamilton Marketplace, Hamilton. Web: mezeh.com.
Gyro King and Grill, 319 U.S. Route 130, East Windsor. Web: gyrokingandgrill.com.
Lawrence spot takes Polish cuisine to the Maximus
Eastern European cuisine may be said to have been as underrepresented as Mediterranean and Middle Eastern cuisine in Central New Jersey over the years.
But while falafel lovers may rejoice over the wealth of choices they now have, lovers of bigos and borscht must be content that Maximus Polish Cuisine Empire, the new restaurant in Lawrence Shopping Center, brings our grand total of Eastern European restaurants in the area to four.
Blue Danube, on Adeline Street in Trenton, has been a mainstay for many years, and Barbara’s Hungarian Restaurant in Ewing has been a more recent success story. Rozmaryn, on North Olden Avenue in Trenton, has long been the only dedicated Polish restaurant in the area. But Maximus has earned solid reviews since opening in March.
Maximus aims to serve up homestyle classics with a modern twist. Entrees include a variety of schnitzels, Silesian noodles, pork chops, pork loin, meat loaf, pork neck with gravy, baked ribs, and, as a special, pork knuckles in beer.
Other specialties include three kinds of pierogi (potatoes and cheese, cabbage and mushroom and meat), potato pancakes, hunter’s stew (bigos), stuffed cabbage, kielbasa and borscht. Soup varieties include tomato, chicken noodle, pickle, sauerkraut, beef tripe and goulash.
Maximus Polish Cuisine Empire, 2495 Brunswick Pike (U.S. 1), Lawrence. Web: maximusrestaurant.com.
And also, sandwiches
Perhaps compared to Polish and Mediterranean fare, sandwiches are a little basic. But there is almost nothing that beats a good sandwich, and Crumb, a Salad and Sandwich Joint, which opened last month in the former Properly Fueled in Bordentown City, makes quite a few good ones.
The Haddonfield-based shop offers a variety of chicken cutlet sandwiches, including the “The Closer,” which comes topped with prosciutto, asiago, arugula, balsamic vinegar and olive oil, or the “French Montana,” with smoked ham and cheddar mornay sauce.
Other specialties include “The Skouf,” a chicken salad sandwich with apple, rosemary and romaine, and El Jefe, a Cuban-style sandwich with ham, pork, pickles, gruyere, and incredibly spicy mustard.
The secret at Crumb may just be the fresh-baked focaccia, which is some of the tastiest bread anywhere. Crumb’s fresh-cut fries are also a treat.
Crumb, 1 ½ Crosswicks St., Bordentown. Web: crumbhaddonfield.com.
Cauliflower shawarma pita from Taïm Mediterranean Grill. ,
Pierogi platter from Maximus Polish Cuisine Empire in Lawrence.,
